Disinfo: The Church of Greece only recognised the Church of Ukraine because it is dependent on Western financial support

Summary

The Church of Greece’s decision to recognise the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is not a surprise. What else could have been expected from a church that is entirely under the control of the Greek government? Priests in Greece are government officials. And the Church of Greece is literally completely dependent of Western financial and political support. The fact that it received a large number of visits from US officials and the number of “informal” conversations between Ambassador Pyatt and Greek leaders says a lot.

Disproof

This is a conspiracy theory aimed at undermining support for the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), presented without any evidence. Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets have frequently and consistently attacked the establishment of an autocephalous Ukrainian Church. There is no factual evidence to suggest that Western support for the Church of Greece forced its decision to recognise the UOC.

In October 2019, the Greek Orthodox Church decided to recognise the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, following the decision by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The latter delivered the so-called tomos of autocephaly to the UOC in January 2019. For more information on the tomos, see here.

Despite having lost soldiers in Syria and the fact that Turkey downed a Russian airplane and caused the death of its pilot, Russia didn’t take any inappropriate retaliation measures. It didn’t kill civilians on purpose, as it is known that the US did.

October 22, 2019

Disproof

Deliberate targeting of civilians by the Russian air forces has been a permanent concern for human rights groups and observers of the Syrian conflict since the beginning of its intervention in the country in 2015. Both Syrian and especially Russian armed forces have been repeatedly accused of purposefully attacking schools, rescue workers and hospitals by Amnesty International, Western governments or the United Nations in different moments of the war.

Bombing of hospitals in Syria have been a recurrent event during the armed conflict, which MSF attributed to Russia in 2017. Moscow flatly denied any responsibility, trying to shift blame on the US air forces without presenting any evidence. In June 2019, doctors in the rebel-held area of Idlib stopped sharing coordinates of medical facilities with the UN after suspicions that they were being deliberately targeted by pro-Bashar Al Assad and Russian forces in what many observers considered a coordinated strategy. On October 13, 2019, The New York Times published an article analysing radio recordings linking Russian pilots to the purposeful bombing of four Syrian hospitals in May 5 and 6, 2019.

The situation in Hong Kong hasn’t cooled down and is getting more complicated. There are more and more foreign elements interfering in the Hong Kong affairs. There are reliable information that Ukrainian elements have joined in. They travel to share their experience to an audience in Hong Kong.

October 22, 2019

Disproof

Conspiracy theory presented without evidence.

Pro-Kremlin media have long used the narrative about anti-government protests being funded by the US. Examples include colour revolutions in post-Soviet states, the “Arab Spring” revolts, and Ukraine's Euromaidan in 2014. Western non-governmental organisations are often targeted by pro-Kremlin disinformation as agents of this subversive and state-driven influence.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.